So, I had these great intentions of sharing some Thanksgiving tips earlier this week. And intentions are only as good as the follow-through that goes into them. I don’t think I need to say anymore…

Anyhow, here are some links to Thanksgiving tips, ideas and recipes in case you need any last (like, really last) minute assistance.

• Here are two Thanksgiving side dish round-ups that I posted last year – Part 1 and Part 2.
• Hope about some ideas for re-purposing all those Thanksgiving leftovers you’ll be facing on Friday?  Here’s another round-up post from last year of some of my favorite ideas.

• Here’s one of my favorite appetizers – Apple Sausage Balls – that is great for Thanksgiving, and chances are good that you already have all of the ingredients on hand.

• Hot Cranberry Salad is a great twist on traditional cranberry side dishes. It’s worth scrapping your original cranberry plans in favor of this one!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with family, friends and delicious food!

Remember last month when I told you that I was going to be part of the Frigidaire Test Drive program while enjoying a brand new Frigidaire Gallery^® Range with Symmetry™ Double Oven? Well, my fantastic new oven has become an amazingly welcome addition to our little kitchen. And now I’m at the point where I’m wondering how I ever lived without it!

Here are just a few of the features that I love and have come to rely on on a daily basis:

• The “quick boil” burner that boils a pot of water in about half of the time as a regular burner.
• The “quick preheat” that heats the top oven to any desired temperature in just 4 minutes.
• The top oven is a convection oven, which I’ve never used before. But I love how it cuts down on the cooking time and there have been a few occasions lately when those few saved minutes were vitally important.
• I extra fifth burner that is a warming burner. You know those times when the gravy is done before the rest of the meal or you need to keep something warm while waiting for everyone to get to the table. This burner is perfect for that!
• I don’t really think this needs to be said, but I’ll say it anyhow – Double Ovens! One oven at one temperature and the other oven at a different one. I had NO idea this was something I needed until I started actually using it.
• The automatic oven settings that cook certain foods for you from start to finish. For example, place a frozen pizza in a cold oven and push the pizza button. The oven heats to the right temperature, cooks the food and then automatically switches over to the “keep warm” setting. It feels very Jetson-ish.

I’ll be completely honest here and let you know that there was a bit of a learning curve for me while I got used to using the range. The burners get really hot, which is a good thing, but it does take a little time to get used to. In fact, I burned ground beef for the first time ever when using the range early on. I’ve learned to start the burners at a much lower heat than what seems logical to me and go up from there instead of the other way around.

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving next week when I’ll get to really put the range and ovens to the test! I’m probably going to cook way more food than I’ll need, just because I can. That just means we’ll get to enjoy leftovers for days, and there’s nothing wrong with that!

Full disclosure: I am being provided with a brand new Frigidaire Gallery Freestanding Electric Range with Symmetry Double Ovens at no cost to me for participating in the Frigidaire Test Drive campaign. As always, all thoughts and opinions will be entirely my own.

Although we have many family members that are members at Costco, Eric and I had never been in one until this past weekend. We love warehouse club shopping and have been known to make a day out of walking around the aisles with the kids. So, we were very excited about becoming members at Costco thanks to The Motherhood, especially considering all of the great things we’ve heard about it.

We were not disappointed at all! We went in with the intention of checking everything out and buying a rack of pork (more info below). Yet like with all stops like that, we weren’t surprised to check out with a cart full of goodies. I can’t wait to tackle our first monthly shopping trip there next week.

Now, on to that rack of pork I mentioned above. I’m participating in a campaign from The Motherhood & Costco that involves creating a pork recipe and sharing some ideas for incorporating that into a party idea. The cut of pork I was assigned is a rack of pork. This is one cut of meat that I have NO experience with, but it was definitely a fun challenge to take on. (You can find out some more information on rack of pork as well as other cuts pork here.) Fortunately, everyone in this house is a fan of pork, so I knew I’d have some room to experiment. I‘ll be sharing the recipe I made, some party ideas and a $25 Costco cash giveaway later this week.

Until then, I wanted to let you know about the fantastic deal you can get on a rack of pork at Costco this week. And trust me when I say that if you’re as unfamiliar as I was with this cut, try it out! It’s much easier to cook than you’d think and it is absolutely delicious! This week, through October 31st, you can buy a rack of pork for $2.50 off at Costco. I definitely recommend taking advantage of this and doing a little experimenting of your own.

As you waited for my recipe with baited breath (because I know you will, right? Right?), you can find other recipes and ideas on the Costco website.

How do you feel about experimenting with new cuts of meat, and pork especially? Do you hesitate because of the unknown or do you just jump right in?

Full Disclosure – This post was written by me in participation with a program from The Motherhood for Costco and the National Pork Board. I received products to facilitate my recipe creation and a stipend for my time. However, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.